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Alliance of Liberals and Progressives
| Seats2 Title = Governships | Seats2 = | Website = www.alp.org.tk}} The Alliance of Liberals of Progressives (Aliança dos Liberais e Progressistas) is a coalition of several political parties in Tukarali, formed in June 3355. The Alliance exists only at the national level; at the prefectural level, the constituent parties are completely autonomous. Currently, the Alliance is led by Luciano Manoel Gadanha Hortencio. While it holds no seats in the National Assembly (Assembléia Nacional), it is the only existing opposition party in at the national level. Member parties The Alliance has six members. All of its members are economically centrist or centre-right; they are also socially progressive. Civic Front (Frente Cívica) The Civic Front, based in the Morata Valley, is considered a fairly centrist party on both economic and social issues. Thus, while numerically not particularly strong, the Civic Front is the only Alliance members that has ever led a prefectural government, except for the Liberal Party, due to its status as a compromise party that is able to hold together a coalition of fairly disparate interests. The Civic Front was founded in 3332 and is led by Andréa Gabriela Damasceno Xavier. League For Liberty (Liga para a Liberdade) The League for Liberty, based in Dataan (it also has a branch in the Morata Valley), has strong libertarian tendencies, favouring the removal of government in both the economic and social spheres. While disliked by many voters for occasionally extreme views, this opposition is offset by its highly enthusiastic and committed base. The League for Liberty was the result of the merging of the Liberal Party of Dataan and the Libertarian Party of the Morata Valley in 3327. Its leader is Gonçalvo Marcelino Orvalho Marreiros. Reform Movement (Movimento de Reforma) The Reform Movement, like the League for Liberty, has many libertarian positions, although it is viewed as a more moderate party. It is the smallest member of the Alliance, as its more visible competitor in Dataan, the League for Liberty, has taken much of its support. The Reform Movement has taken an interest in foreign and international affairs, although prefectural governments have no power over these areas. The Reform Movement was founded in 3349, making it the youngest of the members parties, and is led by Bishi'ut Batbayariin Mungentuya. Democratic Party (Partido Democrata) The Democratic Party operates in Shrin Kali and Boruska. Like the Civic Front, it is a moderate party. In terms of support, membership and fundraising, it is without a doubt the largest member of the Alliance. The current Chairman of the Alliance, Luciano Manoel Gadanha Hortencio, is a former leader of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is the oldest of the Alliance members, founded in 3316. Its leader is Inês Margarida Cabaça Ferrão. Liberal Party (Partido Liberal) The Liberal Party, like the Civic Front, has occasionally led coalition governments in its base, Lago Kwantu. However, a branch in Boruska foundered due to the presence of the more established Democratic Party. The Liberal Party's ideology is broadly similar to that the of Reform Movement, but opposes sudden reform (pejoratively called 'shock therapy' by the party leadership), instead favouring a more gradual process. The Liberal Party was founded in 3335 after the Movement for Liberal Democracy and the Freedom Party merged. Its leader is Rafael Paulo Lopez Cargaleiro. Progressive Party (Partido Progressista) The Progressive Party is active only in Lago Kwantu, and closely co-operates with the larger Liberal Party. The Progressive Party espouses socially liberal policies, and is probably the most left-leaning party in the Alliance in the economic sphere. The Progressive Party was founded in 3338 and is led by Tokhura'ut Ganbaatariin Mönkhbat. History Founding The Alliance has its roots in a coalition between the Liberal Party and Progressive Party. In the 3344 elections in Lago Kwantu, the two parties, despite their ideologically similar stances, viciously attacked each other, hoping to gain the votes of the supporters of the other party. This tactic backfired, and many swing voters were dissuaded from voting for either of the parties, instead abstaining of voting for another party. Recognising the need for compromise, they formed a coalition and managed to win a sufficient number of seats the next year to form government with a few other coalition partners. Their unexpected success raised eyebrows across Tukarali. Soon, other liberal and progressive parties were considering some sort of arrangement that would unite them on the national scene to give them greater visibility. In 3346, the Democratic Party asked whether it would be able to join in a co-operation agreement with the Liberal and Progressive Parties, bringing to the table a significant number of supporters and a sophisticated fundraising mechanism. The Civic Front expressed its wishes to join in 3349. The idea got nowhere, however, until the Democratic Party leadership election of 3351. The young and charismatic Luciano Manoel Gadanha Hortencio became the new leader, and would spearhead the movement to unite the progressive parties of Tukarali into one whole. Despite their initial reluctance, he persuaded the Reform Movement, then the League for Liberty, to agree to a coalition. In late 3353, negotiations between the six parties began in ernest. Despite a rough start which was interrupted by the elections in 3354, the negotiations began to bear fruit. It was agreed that the six parties would remain independent of each other at the state level, although they were encouraged to co-operate; at the national level, they would work together under an umbrella organisation, the Alliance of Liberals and Progressives. By March 3355, Gadanha Hortencio was able to announce that the conferences had been successful. In the next few months, finer details, such as the composition of the Alliance's first national frontbench, were finalised. Gadanha Hortencio, as leader of the largest constituent party and the main founder of the Alliance, was elected leader by a join meeting of the party conventions. On June 28, at a major rally outside Sangon, the official founding of the Alliance occurred, with Gadanha Hortencio declaring that the member parties had 'now emerged onto the national stage with a vision' and that this marked 'the beginning of a new era'. The party platform was also unveiled. Early years The Alliance, despite having no seats in the legislature, decided to use the five years before the next election to raise its profile. Within a year of its founding, it had proposed sweeping reforms. Among its first priorities was to increase the amount of rights enjoyed by Tukarese citizens. It also attempted to liberalise the economy to stimulate economic growth, much needed in a developing country. Additionally, proposals were made to increase the strength of the Tukarese military to increase Tukarali's influence on the international stage. The Alliance would achieve its first legislative successes in the military field. The Alliance's controversial Military Reform Act, which passed easily through the National Assembly but aroused the ire of the anti-nuclear movement, allowed the establishment of a nuclear weapons program under the direction of the young scientific genius Érico Carlos Marzagão Gralheiro. At the end of 3358, the Alliance introduced another Military Reform Act, granting women equal opportunity in the military and expanding the powers of the national intelligence agency. The National Service Act introduced conscription in times of war. These bills passed. The reform of civil rights as contained in the Reform Act failed in the legislature. However, a modified and more limited version drafted by the Society of Patriots (Sociedade dos Patriotas) passed through the National Assembly in June 3358 with Alliance support, although Alliance leaders stated that they hoped to be able to pass into law the articles which had been cut out. In 3359, a bill to legalise prostitution failed. In mid-3356, the Economic Liberalisation and Privatisation Act was introdcued into the National Assembly. It attempted to reduce regulation concerning labour and investment, and to decrease the size of the public sector and instead allowed the government to contract with private companies to provide services. It failed; another bill of the same name and nature was proposed and also failed, as did a bill to reduce media regulation. However, an attempt to intergrate the Tukarese economy with the international marketplace by allowing Karav Financial Services, major Beluzian financial services company, to set up a branch in Tukarali, succeeded in January 3359. In 3359 and 3360, the Alliance attempted to introduce a number of minor bills, including health reform proposals, and the re-introduction of the death penalty for capital crimes. First Government In the election of April 3360, the Alliance was expected to gain significant legislative representation, with most political pundits stating that the Alliance would win at least one third of the seats available. The Presidency was also expected to be retained by the Society of Patriots. Thus, it came as an immense shock when the Alliance won a landslide victory, just shy of securing two-thirds of the seats, and took the Presidency, with Luciano Manoel Gadanha Hortencio shortly inaugurated as the President. The Alliance then took control of the Cabinet. Immediately, the Alliance changed the budget, cutting taxes while increasing spending, as the government did not need a ridiculously large surplus equvalent to 10% of Tukarali's GDP. Tukarali's defence budget was boosted in line with the Alliance's policy of making Tukarali a more notable nation in international diplomacy. Alliance legislators then introduced a bill to enact the parts of its first Reform Act which had been cut out by the Society of Patriots. This succeeded in January 3361. Several years later, the Tukarese Democratic Union's proposed a bill to publicise their conservative beliefs. This bill failed. Shortly after, the Religion Act, which gave religious organisations greater freedom while banning religious schools, passed. Administrative reform came when in 3361 and 3362, when the Alliance overhauled the structure of the executive branch of government, adding more departments and bureaus under the ministries to alleviate the workload of the overworked Ministers. A year later, the title of the head of state became 'President of State', instead of the old title which emphasized the supremacy of Shuya Nakagawa, and the authoritarian Constitution was thrown out. The Alliance sought to withdraw from the International Committee of the Red Cross which imposed burdensome requirements to give international aid even though Tukarali was a developing nation. This proposals were enacted into law in January 3361. Meanwhile, in May 3361, the Foreign Minister, Barkhujin Ganboldiin Lkhagvasüren, drafted a treaty for the establishment of an International Court. After intensive consultation with the President and Justice Minister, Lkhagvasüren submitted the Charter of the International Court for ratification. Additionally, a large number of international agreements were later ratified by the National Assembly, including the Foreign Minister's Tukarese Free Trade Agreement. Most significant, however, was the Economic Liberalisation and Privatisation Act, which entered law in early 3363. This contained the bulk of the Alliances program for reducing regulation and the size of the government. Alliance legislators hailed this as a seminal achievement. In addition to this, the Tukarese Democratic Union's bill for econmic development was supported by the Alliance and thus was passed. However, in accordance with its policy of increasing support for those that were genuinely incapable of supporting themselves through no fault of their own, the Alliance introduced a minimum and subsidised many services for the poor. Structure The Alliance is not actually a party in itself; rather, it is a coalition of prefectural parties with similar ideologies and co-inciding interests. The internal organisations of the member parties are very different. For example, the League for Liberty and the Reform Movement have very powerful and democratically elected party conventions that decide on most major issues, and party discipline is loose. In some other members, most prominently the Democratic Party, the leader of the legislative caucus wields immense power and strictly controls the way the party members vote. The Alliance itself has a convention, to which party conventions send delegates in proportion to their total membership. This convention elects the presidential candidate, who is also the Chairman of the Alliance. It also helps to establish the party platform. The Alliance Committee is made up of two members, who act very much like a combined executive in charge of campaign strategy and fundraising. Each member party elects two committee members from its ranks. The national legislative caucus of the Alliance plays a fairly minor role in the organisation of the Alliance, given the presidential political system of Tukarali. As a general rule, the caucus follow's the Chairman's instructions and votes as he or she wishes. Leadership and frontbench The Cabinet of Tukarali consists entirely of the Alliance frontbench. The Chairman of the Alliance is currently the President of Tukarali. Category:Political parties in Tukarali